20 Art History Terms to Help You Skillfully Describe a Work of Art

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Like any creative field, art history has its own language. While this reality can be overwhelming for aspiring art historians, having a handy glossary of art terms can make analyzing a work of art a lot less intimidating.

In this list, you’ll find 20 words that will help you discuss art with ease. Ranging from general concepts, like brushwork and composition, to specific techniques, including chiaroscuro and troupe l’ceil, this arsenal of art terms offers everything you need to make the most out of your next museum visit.

Analyze art like a professional with this art history glossary.

Abstract

Breaking away from the figurative representation of objects, abstract art reimagines imagery as a study of the relationship between shape, form, color, and line. Abstraction occurs on a continuum, including the fractured-yet-recognizable forms of Cubism and the totally non-pictorial nature of Abstract Expressionism.

Avant-garde

The French term avant-garde literally translates to “advance guard,” but is used to describe artworks, movements, or artists that are experimental and forward-thinking.

Brushwork

Brushwork refers to the way a painter applies paint to a surface. It is typically characterized by the size, texture, and precision of the strokes.

Chiaroscuro

Italian for “light-dark,” chiaroscuro is the use of strong contrasts between luminosity and shadow to achieve a sense of volume and dimensionality. This unique technique was developed during the Italian Renaissance by Leonard da Vinci, the Baroque period by Caravaggio, and the Dutch Golden Age by Rembrandt.

Composition

The composition of a work of art is the way in which its visual elements are arranged, especially in relationship to one another.

Contrapposto

In sculpture, contrapposto (“counterpose” in Italian) is an asymmetrical posture in which most of a figure’s weight is distributed onto one foot. This results in a realistic stance, as famously evident in Michelangelo’s David statue.

Medium

Modern

As a movement, the term “modern” refers to art created between the onset of Impressionism and Pop Art, which ushered in contemporary art. On a more general scale, however, “modern” can mean current or cutting-edge.

Motif

In the visual arts, a motif is an element of the iconography. In paintings, a motif can refer to any pictorial feature of the composition. In the decorative arts and architecture, it often denotes a recognizable symbol that repeats.

Pentimento

Pentimento (“repentance” in Italian) refers to the presence of evidence that an artist has painted over a previously-rendered subject. In The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso, for example, the vague outline of a woman’s face is apparent beneath the final brushstrokes.

Perspective

Perspective is the representation of 3-dimensional depth and space on a flat surface. There are two main types of perspective: linear and atmospheric. Linear perspective employs intersecting lines and vanishing points as a means to make objects appear far away. According to Leonardo da Vinci in A Treatise on Painting, atmospheric perspective, on the other hand, illustrates the idea that “colors become weaker in proportion to their distance from the person who is looking at them” through tonal changes.

Scale

Scale refers to the size of an object in relation to another. Often, as in the case of large-scale paintings, this comparison is based on the portrayed object’s real-life size.

Sfumato

Predominantly associated with the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, sfumato (derived from fumo or “smoke” in Italian) is a method of shading and color-blending that evokes a soft, “smoky” haze. This technique is apparent in the blurred background and softly-defined facial features of the Mona Lisa.

Style

A work of art’s style is a classification of its visual appearance. Often, style is characterized according to the distinctive aesthetic approach of an individual artist, art movement, period, or culture.

Tone

Tone refers to the lightness or darkness of a particular color.

Trompe l’oeil

In French, trompe l’oeil means “deceive the eye.” It is a technique that creates optical illusions of three-dimensionality by employing eye-catching lifelike imagery.